Released in 2006, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah joined a rather large line of DVDs that Madman distributed for the title character. For fans in the United States, this release presents an inexpensive option to enjoy the 1991 movie in widescreen and in Japanese with English subtitles. In terms of the quality of the DVD itself, it's slightly above what one would consider acceptable as there are minor issues. The video and audio tracks are both done well though and the extras, while far from meaty, do contain enough to give the title a little extra value.

The video track here is probably the strongest of the five Heisei series movies that Madman released on DVD. The image is slightly sharp, in contrast to others which are noticeable soft, while digital inconsistencies are also kept minimal for a release from this firm although compression is still noticeable in some scenes. Print damage is also very low, without any scratches to be seen and the grain is never overpowering. The colors, though, are the dividing feature of this track. In many instances they present a lush and vivid display, showing off the deep tones possible on the format. The problem is that this was achieved through over saturation, which becomes apparent on sequences like this where detail is lost. How much of a hinder this is will be is up to personal taste. Personally, I enjoy the deeper tones, and consider it a fair trade off although the lost level of detail is distracting during a few of the sequences with King Ghidorah.

For a demonstration of the saturation, one can compare a scene from this Madman release with the earlier Tristar release. The video track here, beyond being the correct aspect ratio, looks better but one can see that the gravity bolts King Ghidorah is shooting loses the more intricate details found in the earlier 1998 release.

Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is Anamorphic for widescreen TVs.

As a side note, this is a PAL release, and the speed up is the reason for the discrepancy in running times which is the standard 4% difference, although no actual footage has been lost.

The DVD features a total of three audio tracks. Two are for the Japanese audio, and one is for the International English dub. The Japanese audio is available in both 5.1 surround and also 2.0 stereo. Both tracks are incredible, especially the 5.1 track which features a great use of speaker distinction throughout the movie's duration. The English dub, sadly, is a two channel mono track though. The quality is decent, but it's disappointing to not at least see a stereo track present.

The audio is complimented by removable English subtitles that are available for the Japanese audio.

While relatively light on extras, the disc still manages to produce a fair showing. The main draw here is the collection of trailers. For the title feature, there are three teasers and one main theatrical trailer. If one has never seen the teasers before, they are fairly interesting for their use of footage of King Ghidorah from the Showa series mixed with footage from Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989) to sell the premise. Next up are three other trailers for more of the 1990's Godzilla films, which include Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992), Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993), and Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995).

Finally, the disc also contains two galleries. The first is one dedicated to production stills, 18 in total which are in nice quality as can be seen here. The second gallery is one that features three posters for the film. Sadly, these posters are divided into two images, a top and a bottom. The ending result is awkward and kind of loses the feel of that the whole poster would generate.

Bottom line, there are some problems to this release, and things to praise the region 1 over it, but in the end it trumps Tristar's effort as a whole and serves as a good way for fans to view the film in widescreen, and in Japanese with English subtitles. Anyone with a region free player and a setup that can watch PAL movies should consider picking this up if they really enjoy this entry in the franchise.

As a self absorbed side note, this disc also mentions the site on the back of the cover with the following praise for this film:

"an all time favorite in the series " - Toho Kingdom.

A quote which we believe came from Miles Imhoff's review at one stage before it was edited.

This disc is also featured in the DVD box set: Godzilla Heisei Series.